The word mêd or mad means "meadow" in English. It alsosignifies an old measurement for as much land as one can harvest by scythe in a single day. More figuratively, it can mean “territory” or “terrain." Mêd can also mean "a medium" in the context of art.

Mêd is pronounced [mEHt] and the plural is mêden [mEH-duhn].Mad is pronounced [mAWt] like it rhymes with "hot." Meadows do get pretty hot in the summer, but that is not a surprise.

Just to get in a bit more vocabulary, the Frisian for "scythe" is seine. Pronounce it like it contains the word "sign." [SIGH-nuh]. The word seine also means a "blessing," both the sort given with hand signals or in the more general sense.

July 28, 2019

Someone recently asked a great question about oer versus oan in Frisian. On their face, these two little prepositions start off simply enough:

Oer literally translates as "over." Pronounce it with the long "oo" in "moon" and with a slight schwa before the final -r. [OOuhr]

Oan literally translates as "on." pronounce it with the "oh" in boat and a with a slight schwa before the final -n. [OHuhn]

Before we go any further, here is a quote directly from Pieter Tiersma's "Frisian Reference Grammar" (p. 94): "Prepositions often have a wide variety of meanings which are difficult to categorize succinctly." That's something of an understatement! Today, I'm going to look at some more subtle uses of oer and oan and share a visceral hunch about the differences in use... but remember that I'm not a native speaker. This post gets very esoteric and subjective and may not turn out to be especially useful to others studying the language! O.K., disclaimer over. Now...

Let's start with oer and some examples from Tiersma's book, as I think these just may get to the heart of the matter. We can say oer de brêge ("over the bridge") the same way we'd use that phrase in English, and we can also say someone is talking about a subject: hy prate oer syn bernetiid ("he talks about his childhood"). But the question is, why use oer specifically here?

Tiersma notes another meaning of oer that might subtly be of assistance: oer in oere means "in an hour/within an hour." Notice that our first, most literal translation ("over") is no longer helpful. Here is another example from his book: foar de tsjerke oer meaning "in front of the church." Again, why oer specifically?

This is just my personal theory, a feeling I got from looking through phrases. When you think of a church, the building often has a definite yard, sometimes marked by a very solid brick fence. There is a certain "inside consecrated grounds" vibe to it. My suspicion is that oer in its more subtle forms is a bit, well, "grabby" and "possessive"--to try to quantify a feeling. With some subtle uses of oer, the subject is very definitely within its purview. Here's another example to try to get at this visceral sense: mei in boat oerhelje, meaning to bring to the other side by boat. Those involved are landing on and becoming a part of the other shore. From Tiersma again: hja helle my oer om op de FNP te stimmen... "she convinced me to vote for the Frisian National Party." The "om ___ te___" is a clause, so don't worry about it too much here... but the sentence itself shows that feeling of oer taking something or someone into its grasp.
Some subtle variations of oan, on the other hand, do not quite have that "keeping things within its clutches" feel... there seems to be more of a "touching upon" or flowing vibe to it. Again, these are very esoteric impressions! I warned you, right?

...oan te sjen... "look at"... looking at something does not take it into your grasp. But when we talk about a subject, prate oer, perhaps we can say that we are drawing a perimeter about it. We are holding and grasping onto a topic while we speak of it.

Ik bin no wol oan kofje ta! - "I really need coffee now!" Another understatement after this lesson. A more word-for-word translation would look like: "I am now really on coffee!" That ta at the end was a whole other lesson. But with the oan, there's that sense of flowing and movement... not of having something within grasp as of yet.

June 14, 2019

"You can see the best with the heart. That which is essential may not be seen with the eyes." Quote from the Frisian translation of "The Little Prince" (De Lytse Prins) and painting by Ludwig Knaus (1829 –1910). I made this with Paint.NET software.

May 20, 2019

Drûgje, alternatively spelled droegje, is the verb for "to dry." The first spelling with the -û-is the more up-to-date one. It is pronounced with the long "oo" sound in "drew." Meanwhile, drûch is the word for "dry," such as with dry weather.

January 25, 2019

I recently learned a new Frisian word just in time for all the renewed interest in Marie Kondo... opromje, which means "to clean up" or "to tidy up."

opromje

to tidy up

[awp-RAWM-yuh]

It's interesting to me, as an English-speaker, how the word has a connection to the root rom ("space," "vastness," "roomy"), a connection which we don't have in our own language.

Another word where we can see that bond is ferromming, meaning "relief," "solace," or "expansion." This makes so much sense: when something is a relief, it gives you a renewed feeling of space and freedom!

Rom roughly rhymes with "bomb" and is the emphasized syllable in the other words. [fuh-RAWM-ing], [awp-RAWM-yuh].

It is worth adding that rom has another meaning: fame or glory. For example, the provincial anthem describes it Fryske lân fol eare en rom... the Frisian land full of honor and glory.

The verb romje has a number of different meanings. It can mean "to praise" or "to commend." However, it can also mean "to clear out," "to leave," or "to abandon."

It fjild romje...

To leave the field...

[UHT FYEHLT RAWM-yuh]

To conclude, here is a picture of a beautifully expansive field that I took on a bike ride to Boalsert from Snits:

December 7, 2018

This post is based on a question asked by a member of the Fun With Frisian Facebook Group. The Frisian word ta looks very simple, like a happy cognate to the English "to." It can mean "to" or "towards" just as you would suspect. However, it seems to have another layer or two that might not match up so well with modern English. Ta can mean "closed" or carry the sense of something ending, or only going up to a certain point and no further. It can also imply that something is breaking into pieces or separating.

Let's start with these two less English-friendly examples:

De gerdinen binne ta.

The curtains are closed (or: tight, shut).

[duh guh-DEEN-uhn BIHN-nuh TAH.]

De doar is ta.

The door is shut.

[duh DWAWR IHs TAH.]

In another example, we can see the "to" meaning combined with the idea of an ending, a limit, or closing:

Hy stie oan 'e knibbels ta yn 't wetter.

He stood up to his knees in water.

[HIGH shTEE AWN uh knIHb-buhls TAH EENt VEHt-tuhr.]

The underlying idea of going towards a place, but with a limitation on time or space (there and no further), shows up again here:

Er nei it húske ta moat.

He must go to the bathroom.

[EHr NIGH uht HOOS-kuh TAH MWAWT.]

...oan 'e ein fan it jier ta......until the end of the year...

[AWN uh IHGn fAWN uht EEr TAH...]

Meshing a bit with the idea of limitation or closing, ta can also sometimes be used to express adversity or as a word of emphasis:

Tink ris ta!

Really think about it!

It is der wol ta kommen.

It's going to take effort.

Of course, sometimes ta means "to" like you'd hope and expect.

Lju ta it feestmiel roppe.

To call people to the feast.

...yn augustus nei Ljouwert ta komme.

...to come to Ljouwert (Leeuwarden) in August.

View from the Ljouwert bus station. Photo taken by the author in August of 2017.

September 29, 2018

Here is a very useful Frisian verb: BERINNE. Stress is on the second syllable. [buh-RIHN-uh]. One of the the meanings is "to achieve" or "to amount to." Another meaning is "to overwhelm." The noun BERIN (stress on the second syllable)--[buh-RIHN]-- means "course" or "slope" (as of a sea-dike).

HY KIN DAT EIN NET BERINNE - he cannot achieve that end.

[HIGH KIHN DAWT IGHn NET buh-RIHN-hun]

DE PINE BERINT MY - the pain overwhelms me

[duh- PEE-nuh buh-RIHNT MIGH]

IT MOAT SYN BERIN HAWWE - it must have its course... it cannot be forced or rushed.

[UHT MAWT SEEN buh-RIHN HAHV-vuh]

IT RJOCHT SIL SYN BERIN HAWWE - the law (what is right) must have its way.

August 17, 2018

Here's a versatile Frisian verb with connections to an archaic word in English: helje. It can mean to catch, fetch, drag, haul, or realize (a goal). Apparently, in English we once had "hale" as a verb meaning "to drag or draw forcibly." A few examples:

About This Blog

I started this site back when Google Translate didn't have Frisian and the free online FutureLearn course did not yet exist. Thankfully, things have very much changed in five years.

Nonetheless, my old caveat remains: accuracy is not guaranteed (though I do my best) and the approach here is (still) random. This is a hobby for me, not a Ph.D. thesis. If you do know some Frisian and catch an error or three, please post a comment! I write this blog to learn and to help myself retain what I am studying, and hope that others might enjoy reading about West Frisian too.

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